Month: December 2014

  • Christmas gift for Gray Wolves in three states

    Christmas came early this year for gray wolves thanks to an awesome ruling handed down by a federal judge that immediately reinstated federal protection for them in the Great Lakes region.The ruling affects wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and, unless overturned, will stop these three states from holding any more hunting and trapping seasons, which is…

  • NASA maps CO2 emissions over the entire planet

    It’s been a busy five months for NASA’s newest carbon dioxide-monitoring satellite, snapping up to 1 million measurements a day of how carbon dioxide moves across the planet. Now NASA scientists have shared the first global maps created using that data, showing one of the most detailed views of CO2 ever created.The satellite — known…

  • Carbon Dioxide Threat To Mussels' Shells

    The world's mussel population could be under threat as rising CO2 levels in atmosphere and oceans makes their shells weaker and more brittle shells – making them more vulnerable to stormy seas, and predation.

  • Renewables Dominate New US Electrical Generating Capacity

    According to the latest “Energy Infrastructure Update” report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Office of Energy Projects, wind energy and solar power combined provided over 70 percent (71.82%) of the 873 megawatts (MW) of new U.S. electrical generating capacity placed into service in November 2014. Specifically, three wind farms came on line last month,…

  • Temperature rise in Finland outpaces global average

    Over the past 166 years, the average temperature in Finland has risen by more than two degrees. During the observation period, the average increase was 0.14 degrees per decade, which is nearly twice as much as the global average.According to a recent University of Eastern Finland and Finnish Meteorological Institute study, the rise in the…

  • Do Weddell Seals have an Internal GPS?

    Weddell seals have biological adaptations that allow them to dive deep–as much as of hundreds of meters–while hunting, but also an uncanny ability to find the breathing holes they need on the surface of the ice. Now, researchers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) believe they have figured out how they do it–by using…

  • How the Credit Car Industry is Contributing to Pollution

    We all get far too much mail, especially from financial services companies.  Credit card companies alone send billions of pieces of paper mail each year, and most of that gets thrown right into the trash can.  Not only does this dynamic pose a threat from a fraud perspective – trash cans and mailboxes can be…

  • Southern Glaciers in China are Melting

    Glaciers in China that are a critical source of water for drinking and irrigation in India are receding fast, according to a new comprehensive inventory. In the short term, retreating glaciers may release greater meltwater, “but it will be exhausted when glaciers disappear under a continuous warming,” says Liu Shiyin, who led the survey for…

  • Fireplace and wood stove tips for a cleaner burn from EPA

    Across the country this holiday season, families and friends will gather around fires in woodstoves or fireplaces. But how you build that fire – and what you burn – can have a significant impact on air quality and health, both inside your home and out.Whether you’re using a woodstove, pellet stove, or your fireplace, seeing…

  • New study analyzes sound sensitivity of marine invertebrates

    Noise pollution in the ocean is increasingly recognized as harmful to marine mammals, affecting their ability to communicate, find mates, and hunt for food. But what impact does noise have on invertebrates — a critical segment of the food web? Very few studies have attempted to answer that question. The harder question to answer might be…